Night Walk
by ChienEin
Summary: It didn't mean anything to him, not really, but it was his comfort, his comfort for the longing. HoroRenHoro and HaoHoro. ONE SHOT.


Written while I listened to When Hearts Were Gold; please do not flame me for this. If you do, I'll fight back.  
  
Shaman King is copyright Hiroyuki Takei  
  
...-...-...  
  
Night Walk By: Chien  
  
"...Meh..."  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
HoroHoro stared blankly at the dirt ground, then tried kicked some of the dust up with his legs, but his legs swung loosely in the air.  
  
"Nothing is wrong..."  
  
"Oh...?" The other one smirked, and tightened his grip on the ice shaman's waist, Horo could feel the grip through his black tee; he shivered, regretting that tied his jacket around waist, but he felt warm at the same time. Cold because of the brisk, night air blowing in his face, making his bangs flutter, but warm because of the grip and presence behind him. Laying his head on the other's shoulder, the Presence chuckled.  
  
"You're still afraid of me?"  
  
A pause, and then a blink; No, I'm just not sure of all this.  
  
"I'm not afraid of you; never was afraid, never will be!" He tried pulling away but the grip was strong, and what could he do if he pulled away from him? Spirit of Fire was walking along steadily, and the perch on the hand was as high as a sky scraper, jumping off would be... splat. And he didn't really want to leave-- it was nice, comfortable sitting in someone's lap, being cradled like child.  
  
The other laughed, amused by the sudden pull, but held on the same, the grip was strong, but it didn't hurt, it was almost... gentle.  
  
"...Hmrph." HoroHoro puffed his cheeks up, a bit frustrated, and then sat back again, leaning his back against Hao's chest.  
  
"You're so cute..." Hao rubbed his cheek against the ice shaman's, deflating the frustrated balloons. The long-haired teen laughed again at Horo's sudden dismay from the random touch; after all, nothing has happened up to this point.  
  
Horo had stiffened, but slowly calmed down; his heartbeat back to its normal beat. He then looked down at the small tufts of grass that were quickly passing by, the whole green scenery and the camps of some shamans here and there, the grass was plentiful, but were actually trees, but he preferred being near the ground; thus decided on pretending that he was.  
  
Kind of like how he pretended that he was with Ren, at least, at first.  
  
"Thinking about that again?"  
  
"..." The Ainu shifted to look at Hao. It was Hao; it had been Hao for the past week or so. Not Ren, not Ren... And besides, he already grew accustomed to it being Hao, it was just... strange. And he felt guilty, very guilty, because he was like... this, with the Enemy. If anyone found out, he would truly be in trouble.  
  
The Enemy knew though, and he found it fun, treated it all like a game, and decided that to make the game longer, he'll conceal the fun too, just to let Horo come back by himself without too much risk. And so it's been for the past week or so that late at night Horo would get up and walk to that same building that was Hao's base. Spirit of Fire would then walk them around somewhere. As always, the Enemy would pull him into his lap, and cradle Horo, just to make sure Horo would not escape, and just to make sure that the Ainu would stay, and the warm, comfortable contact worked, because Horo always came back for the cradling. And Hao thoroughly was enjoying himself, toying around with people.  
  
"I forgive you for pretending I was Ren."  
  
"...I know." And of course he knew, and even though he was over with that part, which lasted for only one day, till he noticed that it was impossible to pretend -- he accidentally called Hao "Ren" - he was worried. The fact that when it first happened was an accident, he couldn't sleep and Hao spotted him, Horo was like a deer in headlights but quickly recovered, tried to attack, and the silliest thing happened. SOF picked his up, handed him to Hao, and Hao held onto him.  
  
"Are you lonely?"  
  
The Ainu sighed, it was stupid of him. At first he didn't reply to Hao, but Hao cradled him just the same, and slowly, slowly he calmed down, he felt immensely guilty to be enjoying it, so pretended it was Ren. All the while Kororo flew around, worried, scared, and slowly understood that Horo was a bit... comfortable, and then she sat in Horo's lap, suspiciously eyeing Hao the whole time. After the mistake, Hao frowned a bit, and then set Horo down.  
  
"Come visit me again, Horokeu."  
  
And he had stiffened, Hao knew his name, he knew his real name.  
  
"Are you remembering again?" Hao asked, his voice smooth, manipulating. Kororo bristled, and so did Horo, both were still edgy around Hao. Horo felt disgusted with himself for a moment, he liked this. He always came back even if he told himself he would never, all because he liked it. It took him three days to admit that he liked it. Before it was all... denial, with stupid excuses like: "It was because I pretended he was Ren..." or "I was too sleepy to notice much..."  
  
"No..."  
  
Hao chuckled once again, and ruffled Horo's hair.  
  
"Don't deny it."  
  
Horo looked up at the brightening skyline, and suddenly Spirit of Fire bent down, as usual, and the Enemy would let go of him.  
  
"Good night Horo." And then Hao did the unthinkable, he kissed Horo. Lightly, softly, and quick, plus a near miss to the mouth that was meant to tease. Immediately, HoroHoro pulled away, blushing, shocked, and unsure of what to do. The long-haired shaman smirked, then backed into SOF's hand.  
  
"Sweet dreams."  
  
And then he left.  
  
...-...-...  
  
All done, hope you enjoyed it. Please review. :3 It would make me very happy.ying around with people.ed, because Horo always came back that was Hao'etending that h 


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